[Update: Handled] School Bus on Fire at Ferndale Elementary School
Around 1:20 p.m. on January 31, fire personnel have been dispatched to Ferndale Elementary School for the report of a vehicle fire.
The reporting party stated that a school bus is on fire in front of the school located on Shaw Avenue.
Ferndale Fire is responding to the incident.
Please remember that information gathered from initial reports is subject to revision as more facts become available.
Update: Fire personnel on scene stated, via scanner traffic, that the fire was handled.
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Jesus…what a tragedy that could have been..
Check out all the videos of electric busses going up.
A particulate filter regen attempt on a diesel perhaps?
For real, !! I’m hoping it was empty . What is with all these vehicles catching fire lately .😳
Bong hits in the back of the bus?
No. That would not catch a vehicle on fire
E Bus…???
Maybe but in Ferndale?
Haven’t heard of any e-buse at any schools in Humboldt.
Though Del Norte School District has 2.
On a side note: Newsome signed a bill requiring all new school buses be electric starting 2035.
https://kymkemp.com/2022/09/27/teachers-strike-a-deal-structural-improvements-electric-buses-and-more-in-the-works-for-shusd/
…”The SHUSD Director of Transportation, Lisa Cory is currently seeking a Rural School Bus Pilot Program (RSBPP) grant that will pay for electric buses for the district including a charging station. Although Cory was not in attendance, Steffano-Davis said that the administration staff recommended the board approve Cory’s ongoing pursuit of the grant funding.
Concerns were raised by SHUSD Board President, Cinnamon O’Neill-Paula about whether PG&E would provide service to the charging station the electric buses would need. PG&E recently informed Humboldt County supervisors that the energy grid is currently at capacity and will not be able to provide energy to additional development projects in the Southern Humboldt area. Since that time, PG&E has rolled back some of that language stating that they have some short-term solutions available as they work toward long-term solutions. However, O’Neill-Paula stated that several local electric-vehicle charging stations were built but had not yet been connected to the PG&E grid.
Ricca also voiced concern about the size of the power drop to the bus yard, stating that the current power supply was not large enough to handle the needs of a charging station.
SHUSD board member, Brandy Bremer clarified that pursuing the grant funding did not mean the district had to accept the funding even if awarded should hurdles arise preventing the district from being able to have a charging station for electric buses.
“The board unanimously approved pursuing the RSBPP grant funding.”…
Arcata School District has one. Last time I saw it, it was not on fire.
The issue isn’t so much that EV’s (busses and other vehicles) are more likely to catch fire (under normal circumstances they most-certainly aren’t), but that when a fire does occur it is incredibly catastrophic due to their rapid expansion and being nigh-impossible to extinguish.
The idea that EV busses are especially dangerous caught the public’s imagination after two entire bus depots in Massachusetts & Connecticut blazed in 2022. In each case, a single bus ignited but quickly spread to all adjacent vehicles.
The solution is to park them far enough away from each other to limit loss. That, and not being inside or near one at the time!
They’re plugged in down on Koster
Wasn’t the government giving them away free, or providing grants for them…
That might explain it, if it was the case.
Nothing seems to have been awarded locally…
https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-announces-88-million-in-new-funding-to-electrify-california-school-buses/
‘Padilla Announces $88 Million in New Funding to Electrify California School Buses’
WASHINGTON, D.C. —
“Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) announced that California was awarded $88 million to purchase electric buses across the state. The funding comes through the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean School Bus Program, which was created through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and modeled after the Clean Commute for Kids Act that Padilla introduced in 2021. The Clean School Bus Program will provide $5 billion over five years to support the transition to zero-emission and low-emission school buses.”…
The government doesn’t give anything away free or grant any money. The government gives your and my tax dollars away the way they feel fit. They would like to think it’s free.
Maybe… (Chinese e-buses going up in flames.)
y’all commentators speculate way too much…
Yeah, NerdGirl, it’s a guy thing. Our wives don’t allow us to go anywhere so this is what we do.
Or not enough?!
Thank God the bus was empty at the time. Thank you, Ferndale Fire, for knocking the fire out.
The superintendent, Danelle Carmesin, and other staff members extinguished the fire before the fire department arrived. They were amazing! Thank you Mrs. Carmesin and staff for your quick thinking and jumping into action.
Susan, thank you very much for setting me strait on who extinguished the fire before Ferndale Fire Arrived. A HUGE thank you to Mrs. Carmesin and staff for reacting so quickly to the fire. I just went by the information that said Ferndale Fire was rolling.
https://kymkemp.com/2024/01/31/school-bus-on-fire-at-ferndale-elementary-school/#comment-1696816
Susan, can’t get the link to open, but thanks anyway.
I forgot to mention that what the staff did was great, but any type of vehicle fire should be left to the professionals. The bus fuel tank could have exploded from the heat severely injuring or killing a staff member.